The first monograph on the Strugatskiis to be published in English in nearly twenty-five years. Connected to a renewal of interest in the Strugatskiis in English translation—witness the recent efforts of Chicago Review Press in retranslating key works. Useful in university courses on the Strugatskiis; readings can be targeted, as most chapters focus on just one of their books. Interdisciplinary subject matter: an intersection of literary studies and science studies; of science fiction, astronomy, and cosmology. Connected to popular interest in astronomy, cosmology; to the tradition of Sagan, deGrasse Tyson, etc. Grounded in the classics of Russian literature, with particular reference to Pushkin’s poetry. Grounded in the wider context of world science fiction, with particular reference to H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds.